lookout

• look-out

Deverbal from look out.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlʊkaʊt/

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lookout (plural lookouts)

1. A vantage point with a view of the surrounding area.
2. A session of watching for an approaching enemy, police, etc.

   We kept a lookout all night, but nobody came.

3. A person on watch for approaching enemy, police, danger, etc.

   Synonyms: lookout man, watchout

   Coordinate term: watchman

   The raid failed when the lookout noticed the enemy group.

   • 2019 December 18, Andrew Roden, “Absence of lookouts contributed to Margam deaths”, in Rail, page 20:

     A lack of lookouts was partially responsible for the deaths of two track workers at Margam East Junction in south Wales on July 3, according to an interim report published by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch on December 5. [...] "The absence of a lookout with no involvement in the work activity removed a vital safety barrier," says the report.

4. A subject for observation; a prospect or view.
   • 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 6, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

     Looking, seeing: search or searching; Looking-for (B.), expectation; Lookout, a careful watching for: an elevated place from which to observe: one engaged in watching. And, you know, she OUGHT to keep enough to pay for her season-ticket; but no, she comes to me about that, and I have to find the money."
     "It's a poor lookout," said Mrs. Morel bitterly.

5. One's perspective, outlook; hence, one's responsibility. (used with a possessive pronoun or a noun in a possessive form).

   Every person's interest is his own lookout.

   • 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 27”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:

     "Strickland's painting in my studio."
     "Well?"
     […]
     "Strickland can't work with anyone else in the studio."
     "Damn it all, it's your studio. That's his lookout."

6. An observation window.
   • 1941 February, Railway Magazine, page 75, untitled paragraph:

     Twenty-one of these vehicles were later converted into bogie brake vans for freight service. [...] The extreme width over the side lookouts is 9 ft.

7. (construction) A joist that extends in cantilever out from the exterior wall (or wall plate) of a building, supporting the roof sheathing and providing a nailing surface for the fascia boards.

   Synonym: outlooker

• “lookout”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “lookout”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• outlook